best hand lettering pens for beginners

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Before we get started, I want to give you a list of supplies. If you want to be good at something, you have to have the right tools! You don’t need all of these supplies to get started, some are just fun to have! But these are my recommendations for the best hand lettering pens for beginners, and some other good hand lettering products as well! 

For more tips about hand-lettering you can check out my hand-lettering page here! 

Favorite Hand Lettering Pens

Tombow Fudenosuke Hard or Soft Tip – These are my favorite lettering pens. I prefer the hard tip for beginners, but the soft tip is a great transition on your way to brush lettering. In addition these are super inexpensive, and last for a really long time!
Pentel Sign Brush Pens – These are a lot like the Tombow Fudenosuke Soft Tip but they come in lots of colors! They just have a small brush tip and are great for beginners.
Crayola Broad Tip Markers – Yes these are the same markers you used as a kid. But they’re great to learn about pressure without having the brush tip to worry about. 
Crayola Super Tip Markers – These are similar to the broad tip markers, only they’re a little thinner, and softer. In addition these are great to figuring out pressure for your downstrokes.
Tombow Dual Brush Pens – I would recommend these once you have the basics of hand-lettering down. They have a brush on one end, and a fine tip on the other. Because of the brush it does add another element that complicates the process of lettering, so definitely learn the basics first! 
Sakura Pigma Micron Pen Set – While these are just a monoline marker, they are great for doing fauxligraphy and adding elements and doodles to your lettering! They come in black sets and colored sets making them super fun!
Pentel Aquash Water Brush – Like the name entails, this is another brush pen. These brushes are super versatile and fun to use. You can fill them up with water and use with watercolor, use to blend crayolas, or dip in calligraphy ink!
Sharpie Brush Tip Permanent Markers – These have a pretty stiff brush tip, but they’re permanent and work awesome for anything you want to last you a long time. 
iPad Pro + Apple Pencil – While this is definitely an investment for a hobby, it is a great way to learn how to hand-letter without going through massive amounts of paper (because you will). But with the Procreate App and the Apple Pencil you can replicate beautiful modern calligraphy.

Favorite Hand lettering Paper

Rhodia Notepad – These pads are a little expensive, but they will save your brush pens and help them last lots longer! Especially as you are learning the movement required for their brush pens, smooth paper will lengthen the life of the brush tips.
Marker Paper – You can find marker paper at any craft store in the art section. It is often times thin and smooth and as stated in the name created for markers!
Presentation Paper – Now I wouldn’t use just normal printer paper, it is rough as far as paper goes. But there are definitely higher quality printer papers you can use. This comes in handy if you are wanting to print out practice sheets you can write on and not ruin your pens. So far this HP Presentation Paper is my go to. It’s smooth, a little thicker and a really bright white! 

Hand Lettering Products

Hand lettering beginner practice sheets
I offer 3 different options for my hand-lettering practice sheets, you can check them all out below! Basic Hand-lettering Practice Sheets by Affinity Grove
Flourished Hand-Lettering Practice Sheets by Affinity Grove
Bundle – Basic + Flourished Hand-Lettering Practice Sheets by Affinity Grove 
Hand lettering Ebook

Hand lettering Ebook 

This Hand lettering for Beginners Ebook has 38 pages full of advice, and tips to get you started on your hand-lettering journey! With fun projects to complete with each section and 2 bonus digital lettering sections, you will be on the road to hand-lettering artist in no time! 

I hope as you use these you will find that they truly are the best hand lettering pens for beginners! There are so many options out there and these are what I loved when I started, and in most cases still love most of all! Best of luck in your journey to learn how to hand letter! 

Hand lettering pens for beginners

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